332 FEEDS AND FEEDING, ABRIDGED 



should be provided so each animal may get its share of grain. Reg- 

 ularity and quiet are of especial importance with fattening lambs 

 and sheep. 



Fattening in the corn belt and eastward. — In the corn belt and 

 eastward corn and clover or alfalfa hay are commonly used for fat- 

 tening lambs, with or without cottonseed meal, linseed meal, or wheat 

 bran. Thruout these districts it is usually most profitable to feed the 

 lambs all the grain they will eat after being brought to full feed. 

 Feeders frequently fatten two lots of lambs the same season, market- 

 ing the first in January and the second late in spring. Should the 

 weather grow warm before the lambs are finished, shearing results in 

 better gains. Shelter is required to protect the lambs from winter 

 storms. In the corn belt lambs are commonly allowed the freedom 

 of small yards with an open shed or barn adjacent, while in the East 

 a more forced system of fattening is often followed, the lambs never 

 being turned out from the barn or shed for exercise. In this system, 

 the grain troughs are protected by vertical slats in such a manner 

 that there is just room for a lamb to feed in each opening, and only 

 one space is provided for each lamb. The lambs are brought to full 

 feed as quickly as possible, and they are then given all the grain they 

 will clean up. With such heavy feeding and scant exercise, care 

 must be taken to keep the lambs quiet, and a feeding space must be 

 closed up whenever a lamb is removed from the pen, for excitement 

 and overeating cause heavy losses from apoplexy. 



Fattening in the West. — In the West, where hay is cheap compared 

 with grain, the allowance of grain is often restricted thruout the fat- 

 tening period so the lambs will eat more hay. Sometimes hay only is 

 fed, but sheep cannot be made fat enough for the large markets on 

 hay alone. Hence western feeders often give only hay during the 

 first part of the fattening period and later add grain to finish the 

 lambs and harden the flesh. With a light allowance of grain, the 

 lambs must, of course, be fed longer to reach a given finish than when 

 they are given all the grain they will eat. The feeds most commonly 

 used in the West are corn, barley, or other cereals, with alfalfa hay, 

 and with wet beet pulp in the vicinity of the beet-sugar factories. 



In large feeding plants the corral, or enclosure, is commonly di- 

 vided into 2 rows of lots with a lane between, each lot accommodating 

 from 400 to 500 lambs. No shelter is provided, but windbreaks are 

 desirable. The hay is usually fed in the lanes, 12 to 14 feet wide, 

 extending between the lots. The low fences bordering the lanes have 

 a 7 or 8 inch space between the first and second boards, thru which 

 the lambs feed on the hay. About 1 running foot of lane fencing 

 and feed troughs is allowed each sheep. The hay from the stacks is 



